Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, head of the $240 billion Adani Group, is in the process of making a hostile takeover bid for New Delhi Television (NDTV), one of the country’s most trusted news sources.
On Tuesday, Adani’s subsidiary AMG Media Networks Limited (AMNL) acquired about 29% of NDTV indirectly, by buying out loans to the company. The value of the transaction was not disclosed. AMNL has also made an open offer to acquire another 26% of NDTV, but at INR 294 ($3.68) per share, a 20% discount on the company’s current share value.
NDTV said in a statement that the purchase of the loan “was carried out without any interference, conversation or consent from the founders of NDTV, who, like NDTV, were only informed to exercise these rights today. As recently as yesterday, NDTV notified the exchanges that there has been no change in the contribution of its founders.
“NDTV has never compromised on the core of its operations – its journalism. We continue to proudly stand by that press,” the statement added.
NDTV was founded in 1984 by Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy. She currently operates two news channels and is known for being the guardian of democracy by fearlessly questioning those in power, regardless of which political party they belong to. As such, it has the reputation of being one of the few independent – and therefore credible – news outlets in India.
With a market capitalization of $310 million, NDTV announced 2021 revenue of $45 million.
Adani, currently the fourth richest person in the world – and the richest man in Asia – with a net worth of $135 billion, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, is close to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Adani Group has interests in port management, electric power generation and transmission, renewable energy, mining, airport operations, natural gas, food processing and infrastructure sectors.
Unlike the other major billionaire-led group in India, Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, which has significant media holdings, including digital rights ownership of India’s premier cricket tournament, Adani’s media holdings are modest. AMNL was set up in April of this year to be in the “domain of publishing, broadcasting, distributing and advertising” for every file submitted to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The first step in building Adani’s media empire was the acquisition in May of a 49% stake in Quintillion Business Media, a digital business news platform.
“This acquisition is a milestone in AMNL’s goal journey to pave the way for new age media across platforms,” Sanjay Bhojalia, CEO of AMG Media Networks, said in a statement, while revealing NDTV’s stake.
AMNL strives to empower Indian citizens, consumers and those interested in India with information and knowledge. With its leading position in the news and strong and diverse reach across genres and geographies, NDTV is the most suitable radio and digital platform to deliver our vision. “We look forward to strengthening NDTV’s leadership in news delivery,” the statement added.
[ad_2]
